Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
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The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is awarded by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts annually since 1998. It is named after the 19th century novelist, essayist and humorist Mark Twain.
The Kennedy Center organized this "Celebration of Humor" weekend and established the Mark Twain Prize to recognize those who create humor from their uniquely American experiences.
The first annual Kennedy Center Celebration of American Humor took place in October 1998. The celebration included lectures, symposia, and master classes, and culminated when Richard Pryor was presented with the inaugural Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize. The program featured a gathering of leading American artists including Chevy Chase, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Damon Wayans, Robin Williams, and Neil Simon. It was taped by Comedy Central for cable television broadcast.
Since then, the award presentations have been taped for broadcast on PBS. The 2006 presentation to Neil Simon was held on October 15, 2006 and was broadcasted on November 20, 2006. Presenters included Jason Alexander, Christina Applegate, Lucie Arnaz, Matthew Broderick, Richard Dreyfuss, Heather Headley, Patricia Heaton, Jane Kaczmarek, Robert Klein, Nathan Lane, Robert Redford, Carl Reiner, Paul Reiser, Jonathan Silverman, and Allen Toussaint.
[edit] Past winners
- 1998 - Richard Pryor
- 1999 - Carl Reiner
- 2000 - Jonathan Winters
- 2001 - Whoopi Goldberg
- 2002 - Bob Newhart
- 2003 - Lily Tomlin
- 2004 - Lorne Michaels
- 2005 - Steve Martin
- 2006 - Neil Simon
[edit] External link
- Mark Twain Prize from the Kennedy Center website
